John Bolton: European Union Military Would Be ‘Dagger Pointed at the Heart of NATO’

During a Wednesday appearance on Breitbart News Daily, former U.N. Ambassador and AEI Senior Fellow John Bolton told SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam that plans for a standing European Union army represented a direct threat to the NATO alliance.

“Over the course of the last 20 years, you’ve seen this idea appear over and over again. I have characterized the idea of a true EU military capability – not the dream world they often live in and talk about, but if they actually got to the point of achieving something concrete – that would be a dagger pointed at the heart of NATO,” Bolton said.

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“If the EU says, ‘Actually, we can defend ourselves,’ I tell you, there are a lot of Americans who would say, ‘Fine, and by the way, the next time an authoritarian militaristic society threatens you, let us know how it turns out,’” he explained.

Bolton folded the EU army proposal into his overall critique of the European Union versus NATO, presented at length in his recent article “The New Order Is Our Chance to Keep Up in a Fast Changing World.” He noted that one of the essential differences between the two organizations is that NATO does not interfere with the sovereignty of its member nations as the European Union does.

Kassam further suggested that an EU army could be seen as a provocation by “the East,” particularly Russia, which is already complaining that NATO is too aggressive.

“I think, actually, as the EU talks about this, you actually end up with the worst of both worlds,” said Bolton. “You have a lot of rhetoric about capabilities, but underneath, it’s all hollow. It’s a hollow suit. You could end up provoking others, maybe Russia, and then when they find it’s weak, you’ve left yourself in even graver danger.”

“When you combine that with the poisonous effect this would have on NATO … it’s part of the delusion in the EU that peace has been kept in Europe since World War II, since the EU was formed, by the EU – as if they didn’t understand, and I think many don’t understand, peace in Europe has been kept by NATO and its resistance to the Soviet Union,” he observed.

“If you want to rely on the EU, with all the efficiency of the bureaucracy in Brussels, ‘God help you’ is all I can say,” Bolton warned.